Adais are beautiful golden brown crepes made with a combination of rice and lentils Adai is a dish from the dosa family or you could also call it the vegetarian’s omlet. Wait a minute.. you may be wondering..my last post was about vegetarian version of scrambled eggs, today it is vegetarian version of omlet. What’s up with me?..Why am I getting so obsessed with the veggie version of egg dishes?..anyway let’s not get into the details and talk more about Adai.
Adai is more protein rich as compared to dosas due to the presence of lentils. I also add some sprouts and oats making it a lot more healthier. Making the perfect adai depends on having the perfect batter. So let’s get started with the batter making process.
For the Adai batter :

- 1/2 cup parboiled rice ( any idli rice variety)
- 1/2 cup kolam rice or sona masoori ( or any other such long grain rice but not fragrant ones like basmati)
- 1/4 cup toor dal [split pigeon peas]
- 1/8 cup urad dal [black gram]
- a handful of rolled oats
- a handful of sprouts
- 4 red chillies
- 4 green chillies
- 1/4 teaspoon asafetida
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the adai
- The batter
- oil
Process:
The Adai batter
Soak the rice, dal and oats for 4-5 hours in a vessel filled with water.You can soak everything together as they are all going to be ground together.
Combine all the ingredients required for the batter and grind them using a mixer. A slight coarseness is natural.
This batter can be used immediately and does not need to undergo the fermentation process like idli/ dosa batter.
You can add chopped onions or grated coconut or finely chopped vegetables like green peppers, brocolli and carrots to the adai batter before making the adai.
The Adai
For making the adai place the griddle on medium heat. Pour the batter on the griddle to form thin crepes. Drizzle some oil and when cooked to golden brown on one side turn it to the other side and cook till done.
Adai can be served with avial, chutneys, sambar or good old butter. Some people like to have it with jaggery. My son likes adai with cream cheese and tomato sauce!